Check your Codes
Back when I started working in engineering and construction, we largely ignored codes, for most states considered what we were doing as "process work" and assumed we knew more about proper design than they did.
No more.
Keep in mind, back in the year I started doing this sort of work, OSHA and the EPA were brand new (1970). It was two years before OSHA had their act together enough to even visit the sites where I was working. Once OSHA and the EPA showed up, their surveillance has never slowed down.
But there is more to codes than just the OSHA and the EPA. The ensuing fifty-two years have seen a proliferation of codes and legal specifications.
I have seen some projects in some poorer cities where the opportunity for code inspections has been an opportunity to collect more money (on one new paper mill project, for instance, a city charged $750,000 just to approve the process piping drawings). In the meantime, their efforts slowed the project down as we waited for their blessing.
Recently, I have seen cases where a foreign engineering company, not familiar with local domestic codes, missed some items. I have gotten to the point I am advising my clients to hire an independent code check, preferably before they go to their board for approvals.
The cost of compliance can be significant.
